Americans' Ratings of Dick Cheney Reach New Lows

Job approval rating, favorable rating both at 30%

by Joseph Carroll

GALLUPNEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans' ratings of Vice President Dick Cheney are now at their lowest point to date, according to the latest Gallup Poll, with only 30% approving of the way Cheney is handling his job as vice president and the same low percentage viewing the vice president favorably. Although Republicans continue to rate Cheney more positively on both measures than do independents or Democrats, Republicans' ratings are also at their lowest levels to date.

A comparison of Cheney's ratings with President George W. Bush's ratings over time shows little distinction in their job approval ratings, but in their overall opinions of the two, Americans have consistently rated Bush more favorably than Cheney.

Vice Presidential Job Approval Ratings

The latest poll, conducted July 12-15, 2007, finds 30% of Americans approving of the job Cheney is doing as vice president, while 60% disapprove. This is slightly lower than the 34% measured this past March, and is the lowest of his entire tenure as Bush's vice president.

Gallup first measured Cheney's job approval rating in April 2001, when 63% of Americans said they approved of the way he was doing his job as vice president. His approval rating reached a high of 68% in January 2002, not long after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that also elevated ratings for Bush and for many other aspects of the federal government. The vice president's job approval rating subsequently declined to 50% by January 2005. Since the end of 2005, Cheney's rating has been below 50%, averaging just 36%.

In the latest poll, 57% of Republicans say they approve of Cheney, compared with 26% of independents and just 12% of Democrats. Throughout the course of the Bush administration, Cheney's job approval rating has always been much higher among Republicans than among independents or Democrats. But his rating is now at its lowest point among Republicans and either ties for the lowest or is near the lowest among independents and Democrats.

Cheney's Favorable Ratings

Americans' overall opinion of Cheney is also at its lowest point -- 30% say they have a favorable opinion of the vice president, while 62% have an unfavorable opinion of him. Cheney's favorable rating was somewhat higher earlier this year, at 38% in January and 37% in February.

Gallup first measured the public's view of Cheney in July 2000, immediately after Bush announced Cheney as his vice presidential running mate. At that time, 51% of Americans rated Cheney favorably and 14% unfavorably, with 35% not familiar enough with him to give an opinion. Cheney's ratings were much more positive than negative until February 2004, with his favorable rating reaching a high of 67% in January 2002. Throughout the 2004 re-election campaign, Americans were evenly divided in their views of the vice president. Cheney's favorable rating rebounded somewhat after Bush's 2004 re-election victory, but since October 2005, Cheney's ratings have been more negative than positive.

As is the case with Cheney's job approval rating, Republicans have rated the vice president much more favorably than independents or Democrats over the course of his tenure as vice president. Fifty-nine percent of Republicans currently say they have a favorable opinion of Cheney, while 26% of independents and just 9% of Democrats rate him favorably. Republicans' and Democrats' favorable ratings are now at their lowest point; independents' ratings were lower in the spring of 2006.

Bush vs. Cheney

Gallup only periodically updates Cheney's job approval ratings and favorable ratings. But a comparison of the job approval and favorable ratings for Bush and Cheney shows similar job approval ratings for both the president and vice president over the course of this administration, but consistently higher favorable ratings for Bush than for Cheney.

Since 2001, the only time Bush's and Cheney's job approval ratings were not within a few points of each other was in a January 2002 poll, when 84% of Americans approved of Bush's handling of his job as president and 68% approved of Cheney as vice president.

Bush's favorable rating in the current poll is seven points higher than Cheney's rating, 37% to 30%. Bush's favorable rating has been anywhere from 5 to 16 points higher than Cheney's over the past six years. (In April 2001, the favorable ratings of both were essentially the same, 65% for Bush, 64% for Cheney.) The current 7-point difference is roughly the average for all the ratings during the past six years.

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,001 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted July 12-15, 2007. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

2.
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Dick Cheney is handling his job as vice president?

Approve

Disapprove

No opinion

%

%

%

2007 Jul 12-15

30

60

9

2007 Mar 11-14

34

56

10

2006 Feb 28-Mar 1

40

52

9

2006 Jan 20-22

41

47

12

2005 Nov 11-13

36

54

10

2005 Jan 7-9

50

40

10

2004 Jan 9-11

56

36

8

2002 Jan 25-27

68

18

14

2001 May 18-20

60

26

14

2001 Apr 20-22

63

21

16

45.
Next, we'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of these people -- or if you have never heard of them. How about -- [Dick Cheney]?

Recommended

More than two months after former President Bush and former Vice President Cheney left office, little has changed in Americans’ views of them. Each is viewed unfavorably by 63% of Americans, very similar to where they stood with the public in their final White House years.

Republicans are deeply distrustful of the national news media -- in sharp contrast to Democrats, who have a great deal more trust in the media's accuracy. Overall, less than half of Americans, regardless of partisanship, have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the mass media. Over three-quarters of Republicans, and nearly half of all Americans, perceive the media as too liberal. Fewer than one in five say the media are too conservative.